New Delhi, May 8 : Described as one of the most good looking actors in Hindi cinema, Arjun Rampal will sport rugged looks in his forthcoming film "D-Day".

The 40-year-old is playing the lead role in the action drama being directed by Nikhil Advani. Its logo was released Tuesday along with the film's official website. A countdown timer is set on the site, which will end midnight May 13.

The film is the co-produced by DAR Motion Pictures and EMMAY Entertainment. Slated for a July 19 release, "D-Day" also features Rishi Kapoor, Irrfan, Shruti Haasan and Huma Qureshi.(IANS)

New Delhi, May 7 : Finland's Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, on a visit to India, set aside time Monday evening to launch his own book with an "intriguing Indian connection".

"A Delicate Shade of Pink" was originally written in English and published in a Finnish translation in 2006.

It was launched at the Finnish embassy by Minister of State for Human Resource Development Shashi Tharoor, who praised the author for his scholarly work and remarked that the book is "an interesting exploration of European history through the two World Wars, and with an intriguing Indian connection".

New Delhi, May 7 : Slamming the opposition for not debating and letting the Food Security bill pass by repeatedly stalling parliament, the Congress said Tuesday that the opposition was making the poor suffer for its political gains.

"It's extremely sad and most unfortunate that the UPA (United Progressive Alliance) believes that hunger should be removed, food security should be ensured and it seems that certain sections of the opposition believe that it is not hunger but it is the hungry who should be removed," Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari told reporters outside parliament house.

New Delhi, May 7 - It was a warm Tuesday morning in the capital as the minimum temperature settled 25.3 degrees Celsius, average for this time of the season. The Met Office has forecast a hot and sunny day ahead.

"The skies will remain clear and the afternoon will be hot," an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

The maximum temperature is expected to hover around 41 degrees Celsius.

New Delhi, May 6 : Indian men cruised into the semifinals of the Commonwealth Table Tennis Championships here Monday while the women entered the last four after giving a scare to mighty Singapore.

The men paddlers headed by Sharath Kamal won their matches against Northern Ireland, Scotland and Malaysia with identical 3-0 margins to top Group F. Singapore were first in Group E ahead of England, who qualified as the second best team out of four.

New Delhi, May 6 : Do you want to have fun with zombies or teenagers? This Friday Zombie comedy "Go Goa Gone", produced by Saif Ali Khan, and teenage-drama "Gippi" from Karan Johar's stable are hitting the screens
-- take your pick.

Co-directed by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, "Go Goa Gone" is touted as Bollywood's first zombie comedy. The movie is produced by Illuminati Films, co-owned by Saif, who will be seen as a zombie slayer Boris in it.

Kunal Khemu, Vir Das, Anand Tiwari and Puja Gupta join Saif in the cast.

New Delhi, May 6 : Kashmir was not an "obstacle" in India-Pakistan ties but a very important issue which needs to be resolved "peacefully" to the satisfaction of both countries and the Kashmiri people, Pakistan's former prime minister Nawaz Sharif said Monday.

"It's a very important issue. This issue needs to be resolved peacefully. Resolved to the satisfaction of not only both the countries but also to the satisfaction of the people of Kashmir," Sharif said in an interview to Karan Thapar on CNN-IBN.

New Delhi, May 6 : Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit Monday pulled up Director General (Prisons) Vimla Mehra for a recent clash among inmates in Tihar Jail, which left one person dead and eight others injured.

"The chief minister told the Tihar Jail DG to take steps to prevent incidents of clashes among the prisoners. The government will not tolerate such lapses in future," a Delhi government official said.

In a meeting, Dikshit reviewed the present security situation in the jail and asked Mehra to submit to the government a blueprint on improving the security within the premises.

New Delhi, May 6 : Actress Ameesha Patel, who is set for her maiden appearance at the Cannes International Film Festival, will flaunt Indian attire by Bollywood's favourite designer Manish Malhotra on the red carpet there.

Ameesha's upcoming film "Shortcut Romeo", which also features Neil Nitin Mukesh and Puja Gupta, will be premiered at the prestigious film festival May 22. And the 37-year-old is looking forward to the event.

New Delhi, May 6 : This summer bring a healthy change in your children's wardrobe. Instead of giving them synthetic clothes, choose garments made with organic fabrics.

A couple of brands and designers have started a separate organic line, so you will have enough to choose from.

The latest one is Grön Stockholm, an organic and fashionable kidswear brand, which has come out with spring summer collection.

The organic cotton used to make the collection is produced without using chemicals like insecticides and pesticides. Made with chemical-free fabrics, it offers colourful dresses, skirts, shorts and pants.

New Delhi, May 6 : Montblanc has launched the Signature for Good Collection, a limited edition to raise money to promote education and build schools in the third world countries.

As the brand supports Unicef's global initiatives to enable more children to read and write, it has pledged to raise $1.5 million for Unicef's education programmes, through the Schools for Africa and Asia initiatives, and programmes in Latin America.

New Delhi, May 6 : Nobel laureate Amartya Monday expressed dismay over the persistent disruptions of parliament that have scuttled chances of discussions on important bills, especially the one on food security. He called it a "breakdown" of democracy.

Both houses of parliament, which have seen repeated disruptions by opposition parties over the allocation of coal blocks and 2G spectrum, were again stalled Monday.

New Delhi, May 6 : FIFA vice president Ali Bin Hussein Monday said that federations around the world needed to work together to get rid of corruption in football.

Ali, who is here for the launch of Pepsico-AFDP "Kick for Hope" programme said that corruption is a problem the entire football world is facing and football federations needed have a better working relation.

"Having a better working relation and need to work with other federations to combat corruption. This is a phenomenon affecting the entire footballing world and not restricted to just one region," Ali told reporters here.

New Delhi, May 6 : India and China have agreed to restore status quo, as it was prior to April 15, along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in Ladakh and flag meetings have been held to confirm the arrangements, the ministry of external affairs (MEA) said Monday.

"The governments of India and China have agreed to restore status quo ante along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western Sector of the India-China boundary as it existed prior to April 15, 2013," MEA spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin said.

New Delhi, May 6 : Former India football captain Bhaichung Bhutia said if the chit fund scam, which has affected I-League clubs in Kolkata, was unearthed earlier his team United Sikkim would have hired better players for realistic salaries.

Bhutia, who has recently took over as the chairman of the All India Football Federation (AIFF) technical committee, feels I-League clubs outside West Bengal are lucky no to have been affected by the scam.

New Delhi, May 4 : The BJP Saturday demanded Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal's sacking after his nephew was arrested for allegedly taking a bribe to ensure the promotion of a top railway official.

"We not only demand that Bansal be sacked, he should be prosecuted by CBI under 13 of Prevention of Corruption Act. If any public servant abuses his position to obtain benefits for himself or any other person, he or she is to prosecuted and convicted," BJP's Ravi Shankar Prasad said here.

New Delhi, May 3 : As many of 4,500 deaths or eight percent of all maternal deaths occur due to unsafe abortions every year, parliament was told Friday.

As per Registrar General of India's Sample Registration System (RGI -SRS) survey report (2001-03), 8 percent of maternal deaths in the country are attributed to "abortion" which translates into an absolute number of approximately 4,500 deaths in one year, Minister of State for Health Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury told the Lok Sabha in a written reply.

New Delhi/Mumbai, May 3 : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) in its annual monetary policy for the 2013-14 financial year, announced Friday, cut its key policy interest rate by 0.25 percent.

The following are the experts' views on the RBI move:

S. Gopalakrishnan, president, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII):

"The decision of RBI to cut the policy rates by 25 basis points, the third time during the current year, in its annual policy review, sends a strong signal that the RBI is refocusing its priority in favour of growth in view of the moderating WPI based inflation and weakening demand in the economy."

New Delhi, May 3 : Conservator Aparajita Datta has won the Whitley Award, also called "Green Oscar", for her work to save threatened hornbills in the forests of Arunachal Pradesh.

Datta is one of eight grassroots conservation leaders awarded a share of prize funding worth £295,000 by the Whitley Fund for Nature.

Datta leads a programme to conserve hornbills in the Eastern Himalaya at the Nature Conservation Foundation (NCF), an NGO set up in 1996 to promote science-based wildlife conservation in India.

New Delhi, May 3 : Indian actresses Aishwarya Rai, Sonam Kapoor and Freida Pinto will walk the red carpet at the forthcoming Cannes International Film Festival on different occasions. They will sport looks inspired by Bollywood's different eras.

The trio will walk as brand ambassadors of beauty brand L'Oreal Paris, which completes 16 years as the official make-up artist for the Cannes film fest. With the gala celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema this year, L'Oreal Paris will commemorate the occasion with L’Or Sunset, a new make-up line.